Thoughts, reflections, views and news from the Chief Executive

Reflections on a busy week in the life of the Council

Council business is always incredibly varied and our City Growth colleagues have demonstrated that in the past week, ably supported by teams from across the functions and clusters.

On Monday, thousands were treated to a spectacular fireworks display over the city thanks to the hard work and months of planning put in by Dawn Schultz and the City Events team in partnership with many others across the organisation who play a key role, not least those tasked with the roads and traffic logistics.

It is always a fantastic gathering, bringing people together from all corners of Aberdeen and far beyond.

The Council’s events programme is incredibly diverse and in the midst of preparing for the fun and festivities of Christmas the team also had the State of the Cities Conference to pull together.

Based on the first annual report from the Economic Policy Panel, the conference on Friday brought together experts from a variety of fields as keynote speakers as well as delegates from across the region with a keen interest in the economic performance and strategy for the future. No fireworks in terms of the very informed and healthy panel discussions on the day!

Dawn and Paula Fullerton, from City Events, and Shevonne Bruce, from the Communications cluster, did a wonderful job working with Richard Sweetnam to pull together the programme and ensure a successful inaugural conference.

I must also thank Richard, Jamie Coventry and Gregor Docherty for their work over the past year in establishing the Economic Policy Panel and supporting members as they worked towards the first report, with City Growth colleague Angela Taylor and designer Laura McAra, from the Communications cluster, doing sterling work in bringing the report document to life.

The conference and the report underlined the spirit of optimism around Aberdeen’s economic prospects, not shying away from the challenges that we as a Council and our partners in the city have to tackle. It was a very positive event and lays the foundations for the months and years ahead.